IELTS Letter Writing Tips -

10 Ways to Get Higher Marks on the IELTS Letter Writing Task

1. Identify the type of letter you are being asked to write. Is it a formal, semi-formal or
informal letter? The entire tone of your letter is based on your answer to this question. Adjust
your style and choice of words according to the tye of letter you ha!e been asked to write.
". Open and close the letter correctly #emember that each tye of letter requires a different
oening and closing. The chart below will hel you remember this$
%tyle &haracteristics 'ening (nding
)ormal
To someone you ha!e not
met, whose name you don*t
know
+ear %ir , -adam .ours faithfully
%emi-
formal
To someone you may or may
not ha!e met, whose last
name you know / use
+ear -r 0rown,
+ear -s %tone
.ours sincerely
Informal
To someone you know well,
whose first name you know
and use
+ear 1ohn
+ear Anita
0est regards
2arm wishes
3. Open a for!al and se!i-for!al letter "ith a for!al sentence +on*t try to be friendly, as
you do not know the erson you are writing to. 4et right down to business and indicate the
reason you are writing, as shown below$
Dear Sir / Madam,
I am writing to inquire about / I am writing in connection with...
Dear Mr Jones,
I am writing to inform you ... / I am writing in connection with...
5. Open an infor!al letter "ith a general# friendly paragraph 2ith friends whom we know,
we care about the whole erson. 2e ha!e a broader relationshi in the conte6t of which this
communication is taking lace. %o it is best to acknowledge that friendshi first, before getting
down to the reason for your letter. In fact, the first aragrah could be urely friendly small talk,
unrelated to the reason for your writing. 7ook at the e6amle below$
Dear Jane
I hope you and your family are all well. It was such a pleasure to see you again last summer. We
sure had a great time catching up with each other after so many years. ou ha!e always been a
cherished friend, no matter how much of a gap there has been since we met.
"nyway, the reason I#m writing is that I ha!e some good news $ I am getting married this
summer...
8. Identify the !ain p$rpose of the letter Are you asking for hel, aologi9ing, in!iting
someone, comlaining or thanking someone? 7earn aroriate and olite e6ressions that will
suort what you need to say.
:. Learn and $se standard "ritten phrases %tudents sometimes struggle to finish their writing
in time. This haens when you are trying to write e!ery sentence from scratch. The fact is, in
con!entional letter writing in (nglish, we use a number of standard e6ressions and hrases and
add on to them the secific information we wish to communicate. 0y learning how to use these
e6ressions, you will find the letter writing task much easier and will ne!er ha!e to fight for
time.
;. Make s$re yo$ "rite at least 1%0 "ords <ractice writing letters till you know what 18=
words feels like and looks like. .ou will lose marks if you write less. .ou will not lose marks if
you write more> the only restriction on writing more is in terms of time, not the number of words.
?. Learn the correct spelling of co!!only $sed "ords It is surrising how many I(7T%
students make a mistake when selling words such as @sincerely@, @faithfully@, @in connection
with@ and so on. .ou can re!ent yourself from losing marks by learning the correct selling of
these words and e6ressions which you are highly likely to use on your e6am.
A. Stay on topic In order to comlete your letter within "= minutes or less, ractice writing
letters where you stick to the oint. The 4eneral I(7T% Task 1 does require you to make u a bit
of a story to comlete your letter, but don*t make your story so comlicated that you run out of
time.
1=. Incl$de all three &$lleted points If you e6clude e!en one of the oints gi!en to you in the
question romt, you will lose !aluable marks. <ractice writing letters that include the three
oints and go back and check that you ha!e included them in each ractice e6ercise you do.
To comlete your I(7T% letter writing task within "= minutes, it is helful to know some common
hrases and set e6ressions. 0eing able to use these will allow you to e6ress your ideas quickly
and effecti!ely, without thinking about each and e!ery word. 2hile you*re learning their meaning,
also make sure you can sell them erfectly. )inally, try the qui9 at the bottom of the age to see
how well you know these imortant e6ression.
Apologizing
'sking forHelp 'sking forInfor!ation
I'm sorry about...
I am sorry that...
I'm very sorry about...
I'm very sorry for...
Please forgive me for...
I'd like to apologize for...
Please accept my apologies.
Please accept my sincere
apologies. (very formal)
I*d be grateful if you could...
I would be grateful if you could...
I would areciate it if you
could...
&ould you lease...
I was wondering of you could
hel me.BinformalC
I would like to know...
I am writing to enquire about...
I am writing to find out about...
2hat I am looking for is...
I would like to know about,if...
(losing
(o!plaining ) e*pressing
dissatisfaction
(on+eying regards
I look forward to seeing you.
I look forward to hearing from you.
I look forward to meeting you.
I*m writing to e6ress my
dissatisfaction with...
I*m writing to e6ress my
annoyance with...
I am not hay about...
...was !ery disaointing.
<lease gi!e my best regards to your
family.
<lease ass on my best wishes to
your wife and children.
<lease gi!e my regards to your
arents.
E*pressing satisfaction E*pressing concern) sy!pathy Gi+ing&ad ne"s
I was delighted to hear that...
I was !ery hay to learn that...
I was thrilled to find out that...
I was glad to hear that...
...was !ery enjoyable.
I was sorry to hear about... Byour
accident, illnessC
I am writing to e6ress my
concern about...
I regret to inform you that...Bsemi-
formalC
I am sorry to tell you that...
BinformalC
I regret to ad!ise you that...BformalC
I am afraid I ha!e some bad news.
BinformalC
Gi+ing good ne"s Gi+ingreasons Making s$ggestions
I am leased to inform you that...Bsemi-
formalC
I am delighted to tell you that...BinformalC
I am hay to ad!ise you that...BformalC
I thought you might like to know that...
This is because...
This is because of...
This is due to... BformalC
This is as a result of...BformalC
This is owing to...BformalC
2ould it be a good idea to...
<erhas it would be a good idea to...
Thanking
Thanks.
Thank youThank you !ery much.
Thank you kindly.
I can*t thank you enough.
Do words can e6ress my gratitude.
I am e6tremely grateful for...
I !ery much areciate yourEEEEEEing